Fremont police arrest gunman who holed up in apartment complex

FREMONT — A SWAT team search for a gunman who closed down Fremont Boulevard for several hours Monday ended about 12:30 p.m. with the arrest of a Fremont man, whom police said tried to flee by sliding down an apartment complex garbage chute.

Police arrested Lawrence McCall, 23, of Fremont on suspicion of firing several rounds during a confrontation with two men, Sgt. Chris Mazzone said.

No one was injured in the 9:24 a.m. shooting at the Village Green Apartments, near the corner of Fremont Boulevard and Bidwell Drive, Mazzone said.

Officers pursued the gunman across Fremont Boulevard but lost sight of him when he entered the Waterstone at Fremont Apartments, 39800 Fremont Blvd., Mazzone said.

About 25 officers combed the apartment complex — a collection of three- and four-story buildings spanning an entire city block.

"There were lots of places for him to hide," Mazzone said.

Officers put the entire complex on lockdown, closed a short stretch of Fremont Boulevard for two hours and evacuated residents from one building after receiving a tip that the gunman was inside, Mazzone said.

Police found the unarmed McCall in a third-story utility closet. Mazzone said. McCall slid down an adjoining garbage chute to avoid police, but landed on a mound of trash piled up to the chute's opening on the second floor, where he surrendered to waiting officers, according to Mazzone.

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Police had responded to reports that a man had confronted two men at the Village Green Apartments and pointed a gun at them. "He threatened to kill them and fired several rounds into the air," Mazzone said.